If your CB secret code is on this list, you are at high risk of being hacked

Your credit card PIN is one of the most important things to protect your money from hackers. But do you know which numbers should be absolutely avoided and which should be preferred for maximum security? Study conducted by Nick Berry, former data scientist at Meta, Reveal the world’s most and least secure secret codes.

Do not choose simplified

According to Nick Perry, who analyzed anonymized data from millions of transactions, there are CB codes that are more frequent than others. These icons are often chosen by users for ease and habit but also due to a lack of imagination. However, these combinations are also the easiest to guess by hackers who generally make three attempts before the card is completely blocked.

The 10 codes to avoid:

• 1234
• 1111
• 0000
• 1212
• 7777
• 1004
• 2000
• 4444
• 2222
• 6969

These associations represent approx 15% of all secret codes used. If your secret code is in this list, we strongly recommend that you change it as soon as possible. You can easily do this from an ATM or your bank’s app. If you risk not changing it, you will not have to file a complaint about possible fraud. However, you must still be covered by insurance (they don’t know your code).

The least common secret codes

Conversely, there are codes that are used very rarely and therefore provide a higher level of security. These combinations are often chosen randomly or according to personal logic (date of birth, birthday special, etc.). They are hard to guess by hackers, who are unlikely to find them among 10,000 possible combinations.

Those that “should” be preferred:

• 7063
• 6093
• 6827
• 7394
• 0859
• 8957
• 9480
• 6793
• 8398
• 0738
• 7637
• 6835
• 9629
• 8093
• 8068

These symbols represent Less than 0.1% of all secret codes used. If you want to change your secret code, you can choose one of these codes or generate another random code that you don’t keep anywhere in writing. Moreover, it is quite contradictory to publish a list of “favorite” icons since hackers can also access this list.

Steps to take to be safe

In addition to choosing a code, there are other precautions that must be taken to avoid credit card fraud, which accounts for about 3% of all frauds committed in France according to Lemon squeezer.

You should use caution when withdrawing cash or paying at a merchant by hiding the keyboard in your hand and checking that the terminal is not equipped with a fraudulent device. You should also avoid using the same code for other services such as your mailbox or phone. You must also notify your bank immediately of any loss or theft of the card so that it is blocked. In online banks, you can block them yourself via the app.

For those who are afraid to type their code on the device, the easiest way is contactless payment: you can do it with your physical bank card within 50 euros per transaction. If you want to go higher, you will have to use mobile payment (Apple Pay for example) so you don’t have a limit. With this system, the device will not ask you to check the keyboard.